


Buncha' Stupid, Selfless Kids

by NothingSpecialHere



Series: Dumb Kids In Masks [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: BAMF Gwen Stacy, BAMF Michelle Jones, F/M, Fluff, I Just Really Love Pete Wentz, Miles is a sweetheart, Peter has a crush, Spiderverse AU, They're babies help them, teacher-student dynamic, trying their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-06-29 07:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15724764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NothingSpecialHere/pseuds/NothingSpecialHere
Summary: "Look, you can't tell anyone," Michelle demanded. "Not Ned, May andespeciallynot Stark, got it?"Peter swallowed thickly. "Uh, yeah? Yeah! Promise!"She eyed him before speaking. "There's this kid that lives in the apartment right across from me," MJ mumbled, smiling faintly." I take care of him sometimes, he's a really good kid." She swallowed hard before, clutching her shirt in her fist. "Peter, somethingreallybad happened to him, whatever spider got you, bit him."Peters’ heart plummeted.(An AU where there's only a five year age gap between the two spidermen)





	1. Should’ve Kept Your Mouth Shut

**Author's Note:**

> lol thanks for clicking on babes, wild :)
> 
> Also, i guess you don't really _need_ to read my other story, i mean, it'll help (shameless self-promotion lol) but all you need to know is that MJ _knows_ , Peter wikes her, and in my AU Miles is 11/12-ish and an absolute sweetheart i would die for him thanks for coming to my TED talk :)
> 
> ANYWAY thank you all so, so much for deciding to read, enjoy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunch was nearly over, Peter’s phone kept buzzing with curious texts from Ned, and Michelle looked as if she would fall apart any minute. “Mj,” He began tentatively. “How do you know all this? What’s wrong?”
> 
> Peter reached over to gently rub her arm in what he hoped was in comfort, he froze for a second, remembering Michelle's big rule on physical contact. ( _Don’t_ ) 
> 
> Instead, she seemed to relax under his hold;

MJ hadn’t made fun of Peters Hello Kitty shirt _once_. 

Which defeated the whole purpose of him wearing the thing in the first place. Michelle had been off for days now, quietly muttering to herself, constantly distracted during class (yet still managed to answer every question correctly), she even canceled decathlon for the week. Which then inspired both Ned and Peter to try to find ways to bring MJ out of whatever mood she found herself in. 

That’s how Ned ended up wearing a neon blue Jojo Swija shirt and Peter in a bubblegum pink Hello Kitty shirt. (They decided through a coin toss) All in the hopes that it would get MJ at least to laugh and further embarrass them 

Regrettably, all it did was bring them further down the popularity ladder, if that was even possible. 

“I’m seriously never listening to you ever again dude,” Peter grumbled through a mouthful of fries, attempted to curl up as another student strolled by and sniggered, he really should have brought a jacket. “Like, _ever_ , I mean it.”

Ned scoffed. “Whatever Peter, you thought it was a good idea too.” 

Peter shifted to glare over at his best friend, but was unable to take him seriously, and ended up erupting into laughter. Because, God, they just looked so fucking ridiculous in those shirts. Ned soon joined in, running a hand through his hair, not caring that they were attracting more and more attention by the minute. 

They shut up once they caught of Mj approaching their table, her stress overwhelming.

Her clothes were surprisingly boring lately simple black shirt and ripped jeans, her face beginning to lose its color and her hair more untamed. “Hey Peter,” Her eye shot around anxiously. “Can I talk to you? It’s serious.: 

Peter could only look up at her, mouth opening and closing foolishly until Ned kicked him under the table, prompting him to jump out of his seat and falter in front of her. “Uh, yeah, sure!” 

Michelle nodded and motioned for him to follow her as she walked away, Peter turned to flip Ned off to which he only blew him a kiss. 

Peter kept attempting to keep up with MJ's quick pace, and had it not been for his powers he would’ve been severely out of breath by the time they make it to the boy's bathroom. Michelle took up leaning against the water fountain while Peter settled on crisscrossing his arms rigidly. He noticed that she kept jerking her leg up and down, one of her many nervous ticks. Peering up at her, Peter cursed the extra height she had on him, especially with those shoes. 

Her uneasy posture a scowl sort of terrified him, but it wasn’t like he was stupid enough to tell her that. 

After a few seconds of Peter shyly shuffling from foot to foot, Mj crossed her arms and tipped her head up.“What happened to you after you got bit?” 

Peter stammered. “Wait-what?” Out of everything she could have brought up, his powers were definitely low on the list. Nevertheless, she only had to pinch his arm and jut out her bottom lip for Peter to comply. “Um, uh, I got a really bad bruise where the spider bit me and it swelled up a lot, I got really sick and I couldn’t move or see, everything was really intense. B-but that was just sen-“

She interrupted. “Sensory overload.”

“Yeah!” Peter nodded before his face contorted into confusion. “How’d you know?”

She only waved him off, he heard her sharp intake of breath. “Did you get your powers like right away? Like the next day or something?”

He ignored the frantic look that flashed across her face, ignored how horribly bitten her nails were and focused on her eyes. “Yeah?” They seemed to dance between dark brown and bright hazel. “May said she was gonna take me to the emergency room if I didn't get better, and she freaked out when I told her I was fine.” Peter chuckled, those were lousy weeks. 

A look of understanding dawned on Michelle. “That’s when you stopped using your glasses, you didn’t need them because of your powers!” She massaged her palm over her temple. “Your senses were heightened, all of them. You didn’t need anything that once helped you.” 

Lunch was nearly over, Peter’s phone kept buzzing with curious texts from Ned, and Michelle looked as if she would fall apart any minute. “Mj,” He began tentatively. “How do you know all this? What’s wrong?”

Peter reached over to gently rub her arm in what he hoped was in comfort, he froze for a second, remembering Michelle's big rule on physical contact. ( _Don’t_ ) 

Instead, she seemed to relax under his hold; the ghost of a smiling quirking at the corners of her lips before she pointed a chipped nail in his face. “Look, you can’t tell anyone,” Peter opened his mouth. to argue. “Not Ned, May, and _especially_ not Stark, got it?”

Peter wanted to argue, so very badly to correct her on how Tony wasn’t the villain she made him out to be. If whatever was causing her so much anguish really was serious, having Stark in the know could only help. He really was trying to correct his mistakes and would do anything in his power to rectify a situation at any cost. 

Also, it didn’t help that he sort of promised Mr. Stark that he would keep him posted on any sort of dangerous activity. After the whole Vulture incident, Tony started taking Peters word much more sternly which was pretty amazing, having Tony freaking Stark actually listening to you. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have a genius superhero billionaire on your side.

But Mj came to _him,_ all spent with her baggy eyes and ruffled hair, it broke his heart to see her so unsettled and that meant something. She had never really had friends to turn to, and Peter knew it was a huge step for her to depend on someone other than herself for once. 

And she was so worth the speech he would later get from Mr. Stark. 

He turned off his phone, smiling wide and wiped a moist palm on his jeans. “U-uh, Yeah, Yeah promise!”

She swallowed hard. “There’s this kid that lives in the apartment right across from me,” MJ unlocked her phone and showed Peter her home screen, it was of her and a young dark-skinned boy with big eyes, smiling wide at the screen. He was sticking out his tongue, Michelle was flipping the bird, they both radiated joy. “I've been taking care of him ever since he was little, his mom works a lot and his dads’ not around that much. I pick him up from school, sometimes drop him off at his uncle's’ He’s a good kid.” 

Peter beamed at the screen then back to MJ, who was attempting not to grin at the picture. Her eyes scanned the cover before gazing up at Peter, she locked her phone and clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palms. 

He had never seen her so terrified, and that was including the times he gave her ‘rides’. 

“Something _really_ bad happened,” Her voice wavered and nearly cracked, they both disregarded it. “A couple days ago he came back from a field trip or something with this big ass bruise on his arm. It got so ugly and he kept having these, like, panic attacks, I thought he was gonna die, I didn’t know what to do,” Michelle moved back until her back was fully pressed to the water fountain, she hid her face from view and wiped her cheeks before sniffling and looking at Peter dead in the eye “He got better the next day,”

Peters’eyes widened in realization. “ _MJ_.”

She shook her head, curls dancing across her neck and shoulder. “He started climbing all over the fucking place and-and just jumping everywhere and _god_ ,” Michelle then reached over to clutch onto Peters' shoulders, her nails slightly digging into his skin, voice despairing and weak. “Peter, please, I need your help, he’s just a kid, he’s younger than us, he shouldn’t have to go through all this shit.”

Peter’s fingers twitched to reach out and hold her, (not in a weird, romantic way though, no way) that’s what May and Ben did whenever he was upset. But he knew MJ disliked them to a large degree, alternatively, he settled on resting his hands comfortably on her shoulders. She immediately relaxed. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” Peter comforted. "What’s his name?”

Because what else could he say? Really? 

It was the first time that day he saw Michelle smile, albeit rather angular and small. “Miles Morales,” It left immediately. “He’s only like twelve, of course, you’re his idol! God, all he talks about is you, this is like his dream, but it can’t happen. I need your help, please Peter, I know he’s not gonna listen to me, I don’t want him thinking he has to be a superhero and risk his life!” She blurted.

Peter felt like he should have felt insulted on some level, after all, he was the one who was out in a million dollar suit talking a misguided twenty-something adult out of mugging a kid in order to pay their rent. But he knew what MJ meant, sort of, if Peter was a child, Miles was an infant. 

“He’s just a fucking kid Peter!” She sounded on the verge of tears.

Peter shook her shoulders gently. “Michelle,” He felt a bit guilty saying her name, but it managed to grab her attention. “Look, uh, I-I _promise_ I’ll help you, I swear to god I will okay? Want me to swing us to your apartment after school?” He offered. 

She seemed to like the idea because her eyes ceased watering almost immediately and instead took to roaming around his body, Peter's ears turned pink at the attention. “Okay, but like you’re gonna change first right? Because, what the actual fuck are you wearing? Jesus _Christ_.”

Peter frowned. “Jerk! Me and Ned wore this for you!”

Bad idea. 

“No way! I have to see it!” Michelle exclaimed. 

She pushed past him and made a mad dash towards the cafeteria. 

Michelle practically jumped on their table, rapidly snapping pictures of Ned who was coloring horribly while Jojo Siwa was smirking back. She made both Peter and Ned sit side by side and took pictures of them, she had to keep covering her mouth to prevent the snorts and laughter detained. Michelle shoved her phone screen in their faces, showing she changed her lock screen of them both looking pissed as hell. Saying she will never change it, no matter what. 

It was sort of worth it though; she never did stop smiling. 

~.~

MJ agreed to meet him behind the school's alleyway, a much better alternative to the one he had been previously using. This one was much more secluded and was much less visited by humans and animals alike. 

Peter rushed to change out of his clothes, hastily slipping into the super suit, the cold air nipping at his skin. He always felt a bit stupid putting on the suit, knowing Tony could have easily made it so it bled onto his body efficiently with a push of a button, but _no_. 

Now he was the idiot falling over a trash can trying to get his foot in. 

“Can I come in?” Michelle yelled. “Like, are you done changing? I don't wanna see a naked you, no offense.” 

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I’m good!” 

MJ strolled in casually, but not so much so that Peter didn’t notice her eyes wandering over his frame. This time, he turned pink for a whole different reason. 

Michelle caught his eye and scowled. “Here,” She chucked him a pair of black sweats and a thick hoodie at his face, it had a picture of Black Widow on the front and writing in another language. “You can wear this, I always keep extra clothes in my locker just in case. I’m taller though, sorry if it's kinda big shorty.” She smirked. 

“Thanks,” Peter quickly slipped on the sweatpants and took to grinning into the sweater, he sniffed deeply and looked away from MJ. He bent to slip on his converse's, blowing hair out of his face. “I told Ned that you wanted to talk and that I’d text him later, so he wouldn’t like, show up. Cause he would, only because he cares a lot though, he told me to tell you to call him later by the way.”

Michelle went silent for a minute. “Losers.” She hid her smile with her hand. 

Peter quickly put on his backpack, snapping it in place to make sure it wouldn’t get loose. He doubled checked his web shooters by shooting them at the brick wall, scaring the crap out of Mj in the processes, and slipped on his mask.

He greeted Karen and discreetly told her to play cool, (“Is that Michelle? Are you going on a date with her? I think that’s a great idea Peter! Good job!”), before turning to Michelle, arms spread out wide. 

“Ready?”

She bit her lip and tightened her grip on her backpack straps. “I don’t-”

Peter curled an arm around her waist and hoisted her up, MJ instinctively wrapped her arms right around his frame. “Great! Let’s go!” He yelled, shooting a web at a high building. “Hold on!”

Michelle shot Peter a dirty look, briefly reconsidering even telling him about Miles and cursing herself for freaking out in the first place. Before biting her tongue and preparing for the ground to disappear. 

Peter tried not to breathe too deeply, Michelle’s apple scented conditioner and coconut lotion tangled in his senses. He secured onto MJ before inhaling deep and pulling them off the ground. Payback was payback after all. 

MJ’s screams dissolved into laughter. 

Peter cursed as he sank further into her. 

Michelle forgot to worry.

Spiderman kept swinging.


	2. Just know, you’re worth everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ overcame the brief moment of shock and motioned for him to come closer. “Dude! Get the hell down from there!” She shoved Peter forward. “Look, I brought Spider-Man, now get off my ceiling before my mom kills you.”
> 
> Miles gasped. “No way! Really?” He let himself fall and land audibly on Michelle’s bed, all his previous excitement disappeared the minute his eyes focused on Peter. His hands crossed stiffly over his chest and he raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, pen still clutched tight in his fist. 
> 
> “ _You’re_ spiderman?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey remember when I said this would be updated fast? Yeah, Idk her, she’s dead.
> 
> I’m so proud for getting two chapters of two different works out in one week, I’m so proud of her :) I wanted to get them out before my birthday bc I wanted to write another story and people were gonna get mad so yeah, ily guys
> 
> ALSO I was really lazy to look up room References so Mj’s room and apartment are essentially my own, so shout out to me ig 
> 
> Hope you enjoy,

When they finally landed behind Michelle’s apartment, it was with a loud _thud_ and her tumbling to the ground, falling right on her ass. 

“ _Stop_ doing that!” She hissed, swinging her around arms in hopes of knocking him down as well. “I hate that shit! Look! I didn’t even get to put my hair up!” Peter doubled over in laughter at hair, resembling that of a birds nest.

MJ flipped him off and got up, dusted herself off and walked to the front of the building. 

Peter hastily took off his mask, reached behind him and stuffed it into his backpack. He trailed behind Michelle, her airy laughter from before still echoing in his ears. 

She unlocked the entrance and let Peter inside, not before elbowing him out of the way and racing up the stairs. Peter quickly sped up the stairs, knocking into MJ all the way up but still beating her. And taking to sticking out his tongue childishly at her in victory. 

Michelle shoved him away and took off her backpack, rifling through it. “Okay so, my sister called me and said that she had to go to work but that my niece is asleep and fine so like, don’t be loud and wake her up.”

Peter gaped at her. “I didn’t know you had a sister!”

She eyed him for a bit. “Yeah, she’s cool.”

MJ dug around her bag for her key, once she found it she lightly pushed the door open, and pushed Peter in. She quickly locked the door, sighing in relief once the chain was in place.

Once inside, she shrugged off her backpack and threw it aside, inspecting her home rather bored.

Peter tightened on the straps of his bag awkwardly, as he observed the Jones’ apartment, not really knowing what to do with himself. As he looked around, he noticed that it was slightly larger than his, and very neat, save for the mass of baby toys scattered around the rug in front of the tv. There were pictures of the family in almost every inch of the house, and a large cross above the kitchen doorway. Small candles adorned the room, as well as a couple of MJ’s canvas portraits. 

As he was looking around the flat, he nearly bumped into a yellow crib that held Michelle’s baby niece. Peter leaned in close and smiled at the child’s sleeping figure, her curly hair and freckled skin reminded him of MJ. 

“Is she your sisters’?” He asked. 

MJ was in the kitchen, preparing a bottle and glimpsed up at him before returning back to her work. “Nope.”

And that was that with trying to get information out of MJ, Peter still had a hard time remembering how closed off she was. You only knew what she wanted you to know, which was sort of an obstinate personality trait but that was just MJ. 

Michelle walked over and placed the large bottle in the child's mouth and turned on the baby monitor, hooking one on the belt loops of her jeans and the other near the baby’s head. Peter stretched over and gently tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, causing her to reach over and grasp his fingers in between her small fists. His face broke out in a stupid grin the longer he stayed like that, as a kid he was never really exposed to babies that much. 

Ben and May could never have kids, and Ben often said how Peter was more than enough. 

MJ coughed, she tugged the back of Peter’s sweater to grab his attention.“C’mon, I told him to hide in my room so his mom wouldn’t find out he skipped school.” She pointed to a dark blue door in the corner of the apartment. 

“Did he have to?”

She nodded.“He doesn’t know how to control his powers, I didn’t wanna send a kid who can lift cars to school.”

MJ quickly moved over to her door, she dug a key from her back pocket and began to unlock it. Peter tried desperately not to think about how this was the first time he was going into a girls room.

Michelle opened her door slowly, Peter took the time to look around. 

Her room was...surprisingly messy but in a good way. 

The walls were a pastel yellow, but could hardly be seen through the many posters and artwork she had taped up. Pictures also decorated the walls, Peter caught one of him and Ned smiling wide right by her bed. She had a string of Christmas lights along the edges of her room, and glow in the dark stars and planets were plastered on her ceiling.

She had three bookshelves that were crammed tight with thick novels, a large bed that had more books stuffed underneath. She also had a large, beautiful canvas painting of Frida Kahlo near her bed and a pride flag hanging next to it. There was a closet spewing color next to a dresser spilling clothes with multiple candles dripping on top of it, along with a large desk with papers and art supplies scattered all over it. 

It was an organized mess, which was sort of a perfect fit for Mj. 

“Miles?” 

Michelle jumped back and swore when a young boy with dark, ebony skin and twinkling brown eyes crawled on the ceiling. 

Peter’s mouth fell open in awe, the hairs on the back of his neck immediately stood up. 

The boy beamed wide down at them. “Hey, MJ! Look what I can do! _Look_!” He ran around the ceiling without making a single sound while balancing a pen on his index finger. He pouted when he caught Michelle staring wide-eyed at Peter instead of him. “Come _on!_ You’re not even looking!” 

MJ overcame the brief moment of shock and motioned for him to come closer. “Dude! Get the hell down from there!” She shoved Peter forward. “Look, I brought Spider-Man, now get off my ceiling before my mom kills you.”

Miles gasped. “No way! Really?” He let himself fall and land audibly on Michelle’s bed, all his previous excitement disappeared the minute his eyes focused on Peter. His hands crossed stiffly over his chest and he raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, pen still clutched tight in his fist. 

“ _You’re_ Spiderman ?” 

Peter squirmed nervously under Miles’ intense stare, skepticism and even a bit of disappointment intermingled in his eyes. Peter felt the familiar pit of humiliation begin to grow in his stomach and the stubborn need to prove himself started to slowly eat at him. This is exactly what he always feared, Miles probably expected some kind of strongman guy, not a nervous baby-faced sixteen-year-old kid who still has anxiety ordering food. 

Without even thinking, Peter shot a web and snatched the pen Miles was holding onto in a split second. It didn’t take long for Miles’ look of doubt to melt into one of bewilderment, and Peter would be lying if he said he didn’t take any satisfaction in it. 

Miles’ eyes widened. “Woah.”

Peter walked forward until his knees almost touched MJ’s bed, Miles hurriedly scrambled onto his own legs. “I’m Peter, by the way, I’m one of MJ’s friends.” He grinned, holding his hand out for Miles to shake who took it eagerly.

And if he didn't have his powers, Miles’ strength would have crushed Peters hand in a second. 

“Hi! I-I’m Miles! Miles Morales” He greeted, never letting go of Peter’s hand, and still shaking it. “So, did it hurt when you got bit? Cause mine did for like two days, I think it’s ‘cause I kept poking it though. Hey! How do you get to shoot the webs? I’ve been trying to all day an’ I can’t do it! I broke MJ's lamp on accident trying to do it.”

As Miles rambled on, Michelle walked to her desk and glared at the broken glass shards on the ground, already thinking of a way to explain the mess to her mom. She then proceeded to take out her contact lenses and search for her glasses, once she placed them on, she took to watching the two from above the lenses. 

If she squinted, they could pass as adorable.

Almost. 

“Actually, I made the web shooters,” Peter confessed proudly. “See?” He turned his wrist to show off the gadget. 

Miles gasped. “ _Cool!”_ He then began to fidget from foot to foot, enthusiasm beginning to take over again. “Hey, Tony Stark made your suit, right? Do you think he makes me one too? Could’ja like, ask him for me? _Please_?” He begged Peter who was on the verge of saying yes. 

MJ responded for him. “No.”

Miles turned to glare playfully at her before looking back to Peter, eyes still shining brilliantly. “Can I see your suit?” 

They both turned to Michelle, who nodded.

Peter beamed before tugging MJ's sweater up and over his body, revealing the bright red suit underneath. He quickly undid his sweatpants and kicked them off as well, reminding himself to fold them later.

If he thought Miles was excited before, it didn’t compare to his reaction this time. Peter had to step back as Miles began to jump around him, poking and observing every inch of this suit. He laughed along with Michelle (who was secretly taking video), unable to find it in himself to feel anxious. 

“Holy Shit! That’s so cool!” Miles blurted.

Peter nodded along. “You should hear my mask, the suits’ AI talks to me and everything!”

“No way!” 

Muffled cries soon filled the room, MJ brought up the monitor to her ear before aiming a warning finger at them while making her way to her door. “Be right back, don’t fuck anything up.” She reminded both of them before closing her door shut. 

Miles waited a full ten seconds before leaning close into Peter's face, a mischievous smirk slowly creeping its way onto his face. “Hey, can you turn invisible too?” He whispered.

Peters' heart skipped a beat “ _What?_ ” 

“I didn’t tell MJ ‘cause I didn’t wanna freak her out, _but,_ ” He held out his arm, stuck out his tongue in concentration and in an instant it disappeared and then reappeared.“I can do it with my whole body! Can you do that?”

Peter stared at the younger boy and also tried it, when nothing happened he chuckled and clapped Miles’ shoulders. “That's all you man,” He shook his head before looking around. “So, when did you get bit?”

Miles’ leg bounced erratically. “Okay, so there’s this park that’s like, a block from Oscorp and MJ took me there since it’s right by this weird bookshop she likes. And I guess one of the spiders or something got out and bit me. MJ freaked out because it got really bad, but when she took me to the doctor they said nothing was wrong,” Peter nodded, when May had dragged him out to the hospital a few days later they could find nothing wrong with him. “It got better after that but then it got really bad, that’s when I started freaking out and it turned all red-Hey, I’m not gonna get in trouble right? ” 

Peter shook his head no, but he hated lying. 

It’s not that Miles would be in trouble, just that New York (Tony Stark more like) may not need another vigilante spiderman. Or maybe they did, but it shouldn't be eleven year old Miles Morales, who barely started puberty. Plus, Peter really didn't want to bring any of that up right now. He didn't want to mention that Miles may need to have his powers taken away if things got too serious, or maybe that he should never use them. He couldn't bring Miles down like that, especially when he was staring at him like he was his whole world. 

He couldn't. 

Instead, he sat down on Michelle's bed and patted the spot next to him for Miles to take, which he did, nimbly. “Just be really careful man, okay? I mean it, things are really intense when you can see like, ten times better. I have some goggles I wear sometimes because everything’s really bright, you can use them if you want! I use them when I get headaches,” He stuck out his tongue in thought before adding. “Also, don’t eat peppermint, it feels like it burns your tongue.” He advised.

There was something about how wide Miles smiled at him and how intently he soaked up Peters every word that did things to him. It vaguely reminded him of a younger version of himself watching Ben fix a broken clock or radio in amazement. 

Vaguely. 

Miles flopped back carelessly on Michelle’s untidy comforter. “So, can I really not get a suit?”

Peter opened his mouth to answer but MJ, ever with her amazing timing, came in holding three water bottles and answered for him.

“Yep,” She said and chucked the two bottles at the boys, who of course caught them flawlessly. “No one needs any more weird ass spider people running around.”

“How do you know? You're not a spider person. ” Miles scoffed. 

She quirked an eyebrow. “Says who?”

They all froze when they heard the door open and slam, and a woman belt out; “Michelle! You home babe? I bought food.” 

MJ swore under her breath. “Shit, my mom,” She pointed a finger at Miles’ smug face. “You better run, ‘cause she's mad at you.”

“What’d I do?”

“You snuck out and lied to _your_ mom.”

“Dude I got bit!” Miles blurted. “I had to leave!” 

She rolled her eyes. “You wanna tell her that?”

The two stared each other down until Peter piped up.

“Hey, um, if you want he could come over at my place?” Peter suggested shyly, still sitting cross-legged on Michelle's bed, he turned to Miles. “It’s in Queens so it’s not that far, and...uh I’ve got two extra shooters, I could teach you how to use them! I-If, um, if you want.” 

Miles elbowed past Michelle. “Yeah!” He cried. “Lemme pack really quick!”

Miles reached under MJ's bed and pulled out a worn backpack, emptying the contents out he began to rummage through them. As soon as he did that, he thrust himself into Michele’s closet and pulled out a garbage bag that was filled with his clothes and rifled through them. He examined each item, picking and choosing which ones he would pack, he then took off his shirt and replaced it with a new one. 

Peter watched fondly as the boy packed furiously, it didn’t last long as MJ pulled him to the side and looked very much on edge. 

“Okay, not helping.”

“What do you mean?” Peter asked. 

She groaned and rubbed her temples irritably. “You were supposed to make him _not_ want to be a spider person. Say how it sucks and you hate it and you wish you never got bit or whatever,” Michelle explained. “Now you’re literally giving him fucking web shooters and making him want a goddamn suit. That's literally the entire _opposite_ reason of why I asked to help.” 

“ _Mj,_ ” Peter gently placed a warm hand on her shoulder, she glowered at the contact but he didn’t retract it. “Relax, I'm just gonna take for a little bit, I promise he’ll be fine,” He shrugged coolly. “It's not like I’m gonna take him out to fight crime or anything, we’ll just go over to my house to relax and talk about our powers. Just lay low for a bit as he gets used to them. He can even spend the night, May won’t care.”

Miles perked up. “Can I? My moms working, and yours’ is gonna tell on me!”

MJ frowned and held up a finger, signifying that she was busy thinking. Because sending Miles off with Peter was probably one of the worst ideas, like, ever. It would literally be like combining two hyper children together and watching from the sidelines. Peter can barely look after himself, much less an eleven year old. And besides, Michelle felt sort of responsible for the kid, but Peter promised her and she knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to Miles. 

But what if?

Still, a part of herself mused, maybe this is what he needs. She couldn't imagine what it must be luck to all of a sudden find yourself with overwhelming superhuman powers. And stuffing Miles in her disheveled room wouldn't solve anything, maybe talking to Peter could help. That way he could see how it's not just fun and games, that having powers wasn't a matter to be taken lightly. Besides, she would over to Peters’ place tomorrow and bring him back, it's just for one night. 

His mom wouldn't mind either, she had a double shift and wouldn't even notice the eerily quiet apartment. And her own mom didn't even know Miles was in her room, much less notice if he were missing. 

_God this is such a bad idea_ , she thought, _Jesus Christ this sucks._

Yet before she could process her thoughts, she was saying: 

“Be careful you guys.” 

And with that, she squished Miles’ face affectionately and moved him to the side. Michelle then walked over to where Peter was standing and got close to his face, and for a brief minute, he thought she was going to reach over and kiss his cheek. Her hand was reaching out towards him and her eyes were half-lidded, it made sense, sort of. 

But that wasn’t MJ.

Instead, she pulled down on the collar of his suit, until they were eye to eye. “If he gets hurt, I swear to god Peter, I don’t care if you’re Spiderman and can fucking kill me without trying. I _will_ hurt you.” She growled, before pushing him back and stuffing her hands in her pockets. “Cool?”

“Um, cool?” Peter sputtered.

Michelle looked away bashfully. “You be safe too,” She struck his shoulder. “Looser.” 

“Okay, done!” Miles shrieked, scrambling up in front of the two teenagers proudly. He put on his backpack and took to rocking back and forth on his heels casually. 

Peter inspected him carefully. Miles had swapped out his baggy blue shirt for a much smaller crimson one with small designs. He slipped on one of Michelle's baggier green jackets that was just a little too large for him. Miles kept his pants but also put on shorts in favor of the cold air, he traded his beat-up sneakers for sparkling new ones. 

He never stopped smiling, it was horribly contagious. 

“Ready?”

Miles nodded eccentrically. “Yeah!”

Peter laughed and climbed out of Michelle's window and onto the rickety fire escape, he crawled on to the very edge and let himself squat here for a bit. 

He saw Miles’ hesitation and held out an arm for him to take. “Here, you can hold on to me, it’s fine,” He leaned down and allowed for Miles to grab onto him, looping his arm around the younger boys shoulders and pressing them close so as to steady them. 

Miles never looked down, trembling slightly. 

Peter caught the brief flash of distress and fear that came over the kid and smiled. “Hey, it’s okay, I had trouble with my powers when I got them too. I know it's really overwhelming and it's gonna be scary, but,” Peter slipped on his mask, glad he had told Karen to go on silent for a bit. “It's so amazing and so worth it, you just need to get used to it.”

Miles turned to and smiled wide. “Thanks, Peter.” He thanked, much more assured now. 

Peter bumped their shoulders and held out his arm to show Miles. “Okay, so you want to aim at something really strong, then put your fingers like this,” He held out his fingers and hardened his wrist. “So that it hits the bottom of the circle which activates the webs.” 

With that a strong web shot out of his arm, landing on a high apartment. Peter tugged on it to show its durability. Miles did the same and sniggered. They were about to take off until he realized Miles didn’t have anything to cover his face with. 

“Uh, you got a mask?” Peter asked. 

Michelle spoke up. “I do!” She snatched something off her desk and threw it at Miles. “Here, go away already.”

It was a cheap Spider-Man knock-off mask, but one that MJ had been painting over. It was decorated with multiple paint splatters and intricate designs. 

Miles turned it around in his fingers to inspect it. “Why do you have a spiderman mask?”

Peter placed a hand on his face and cocked his head to the side, and although Michelle couldn't see his face, she could tell he was smirking down at her. “Yeah MJ? Why?” 

God, what a jerk.

She glowered. “Oh my god, shut _up_ already.” She moaned and shoved Peters’ face playfully. 

He dramatically held a hand up to his head and let himself fall, bringing Miles down along with him. For a second, nothing happened, no screaming, no one shooting up, nothing.

Michelle felt like she would die. 

She was halfway to climbing out her window before she was met with Miles’ mad laughter. The two boys quickly came flying across the sky, with Miles screaming in absolute joy and Peter yelling out instructions. His shouts were slightly muffled due to the traffic below, but MJ could still catch a couple of commands. 

“PULL AND BEND YOUR ARM, LIKE THIS!” Peter did just that. “IN ONE MOTION, THWAP!”

Michelle watched them move around, even when Miles missed a building and began to fall, Peter quickly shot a web and pulled him back up. MJ turned around and left before she could climb out and demand Miles come back, she couldn't handle watching them anymore. 

Now she would just have to explain to her already agitated and tense mother why it took her ten minutes to leave her room, and why she left her niece all alone. 

_Fun._

~.~

May didn’t mind Miles staying over one bit. 

Peter knew he shouldn’t have lied to her about this, really he did, May already knew everything about him being Spider-Man and Mr. Stark's involvement, and what more damage could this possibly do? But it was almost instinct to bend the truth just a little bit because Peter knew his aunt better than anyone. She would freak out and call Miles’ mom and have Tony Stark here before he could blink. And then everything would go to hell and honestly, it was just easier to lie.

Once they made it to his apartment, both boys had taken off their masks (Peter thanked Miles profusely for remembering to pack him the clothes MJ let him borrow) and walked into the room with fake smiles plastered to their face. Peter said that Miles was MJ’s cousin and that his mom wouldn’t be home all night and Michelle couldn’t look after him, but that she would pick him up tomorrow if Peter could just take care of him for a bit. 

It hurt how May instantly agreed and offered Miles anything, Peter cringed when she pet his head affectionately and whispered in his ear: “You’re such a good friend hun, I’m so proud of you.” 

He knew he didn’t deserve it. 

Peter led Miles to his room, tensely scanning the room, hoping the boy wouldn’t judge him too harshly. The Star Wars posters and his messy desk kept taunting him horribly. Fortunately for him, Miles seemed to be gazing at everything in awe, reminding him that the kid really did look up to him for some reason. 

“That’s your _aunt?_ ”

Peter chuckled. “Yeah,” He shrugged easily and leaned on his bed. “My parents died when I was a kid so May and my uncle Ben took me in.”

Miles nodded but otherwise didn't seem all that fazed. 

“Your uncle work?” He asked flippantly, sitting on Peters desk chair, inspecting a crumpled picture of thirteen-year-old Peter with Ben and May at each of his sides. 

Peter tensed. “Um, he did,” He rubbed the back of his neck. “He died a couple years ago.”

Silence smacked them both in the face. 

Peter was used to this and had long grown immune to it, and although he hated the stiff apologizes and the eye avoiding, it was understandable. But the way Miles was staring at him made Peter want to take it all back.

Miles opened his mouth, probably to apologize, but decided against it and instead said. “My dad died when I was a kid too,” He simpered. “So my mom and uncle took care of me, my uncles cool, he said he met you once.”

Peter’s cheeks hurt from grinning so much. 

“It sounds bad, but Ben dying made me want to be Spiderman,” When Miles inched closer Peter leaned in as well, glad he could finally tell someone. “When I first got my powers I was so angry and was just, trying to find out who killed him. But then I saw this guy beating someone, and I just, I _had_ to do something. And then people kept needing help and then all of a sudden, everyone’s calling me Spider-Man.”

“Woah,” Miles let out a gasp of air. “Hey, can you show me how to punch hard?” 

Peter snorted, agreeing. They went to the roof and exhausted each other out. 

That’s how Miles ended up fast asleep on Peters’ top bunk, eagerly claiming it for himself. Peter had lent Miles on of his baggier shirts to sleep in, not without signing it of course. (To Miles, my best pal, from your friendly neighborhood spiderman) 

Peter didn’t feel tired just yet, adrenaline was still flowing throughout his body and he felt his heart pound in his ears. He hung from his his ceiling as he fiddled with his web blasters, checking on Miles every now and then just to make sure he was still there. It was the most amazing day, it was fun being the teacher for once, passing down wisdom and knowledge. 

Now he understood why Mr. Stark got such a kick out of it.

But it was hard not to think of the dangers. 

It was plaguing his mind all day while spending time with Miles, the thought that anything could happen to him at any moment, and Peter would never know. Miles didn’t have a suit that could call 911 or notify Tony Stark that he was in danger, and just the thought of Mike lying hurt somewhere all alone as enough for Peter to pull out his phone and contact Tony Stark. 

Tony had given Peter his own private number just after taking down Tooms, not without making it specifically clear that Peter was not to text him daily and bother him over every little thing. Two months later and Tony was the one constantly texting Peter, saying good morning, checking in, and sending him dorky selfies. Peter felt much more comfortable texting the older man now. 

What he was about to ask of him though, that would be harder. 

**You: Hey Mr. Stark, It’s Peter. Sorry to bother you so late, but I wanted to know if I could pls borrow one of the prototype suits you showed me? Please?**

**Mr. Stark ;): Sure kid, 2 things tho, witch one, and why? Something wrong with yours?**

Peter felt bad at how easily Tony trusted him, had it been a couple of months ago Tony would have rejected him point blank. Peter was about to forget about the whole thing, but one glance at Miles’ sleeping figure seemed to cleanse him of all guilt. 

That suit would keep Miles safe, even if Peter couldn’t. And _if_ (if) Miles ever ran off to fight after being told no, then at least he would be protected and easily tracked down. Recalling his own events, yeah, in the end fighting without the suit definitely shaped him and matured him, but Miles was way too young to face that kind of danger. 

MJ would understand, Peter knew (hoped really) that she would, and Tony would eventually come around.

Maybe.

**You: The red and black one pls, nothing’s Wrong with mine, but I just wanna try another one out an see if that’s ok? I remember u said u wanted me to try out new stuff so just wanted to give it a shot :)**

**Mr. Stark ;): Sure kid, I’ll get someone to send it to u tomorrow morning,**

**You: ok thank you so much!!!! Goodnight!!**

**Mr. Stark ;): night kid**

Kid.

That word kept ringing in his head.

He was a kid, barely sixteen and not even close to being a legal adult. Peter could easily report Miles to Stark, knowing that the man would solve everything no problem. He would find a cure for whatever the hell that spider gave Miles, maybe even erase his memory of ever briefly turning. 

And in reward, Peter would get an awkward slap on the back and a rare Tony Stark crooked smile. He would get a proud: “Good job Pete! New I could count on you!” And-

-Miles mumbled something inaudible, a smile appearing on his lips, eyes briefly flicking open before closing once again. 

They both remained silent for a long time. 

Peter turned his phone back on, grinning. 

He sent a quick text to MJ, saying that everything was fine and that she should come over tomorrow to hang out, and if she could remember to bring his backpack with her. 

She responded with sending him a picture of a drawing she made of a cartoon pig in his spider suit swinging from a web, large bubble letters read **Spider-Ham!** on the top. On the corner of the picture was a ‘Thanks for the inspiration dumbass’ in Mj’s loopy handwriting. 

Peter covered his mouth to keep from laughing and set the drawing as his new profile picture. 

He called to tell Ned that MJ was going through something huge, but that he couldn’t tell him just yet, and to not feel left out. Ned agreed solemnly and Peter could already see his pouting face, Peter promised Ned he would tell him everything once MJ said it was cool, that seemed to please him. 

He crawled over to the door and peaked out, May was watching a late night sitcom, she looked tired. Peter closed the door shut and let himself fall down without making a noise. 

Peter briefly considered changing out of the clothes Michelle lent him, but then the fact that it was one in the morning reached him and he settled on falling face first onto the mattress. 

As his eyes closed he knew he was doing the right thing, at least he hoped he was. Peter could take whatever heat people would throw at him, maybe. But at least he would go to bed knowing Miles would be safe, that he wouldn’t need to worry about dying in a ditch alone, that even if no one could reach him, he would be safe. 

Besides, Miles really would love that suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone donate type f to pay respects for the fact that I spilt water on my laptop and it broke 
> 
> Follow my insta: @_nothing.social.here_  
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading, and goodnight


	3. She Wore Green Ballet Shoes To Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Listen _Spiderman_ , I didn’t save your ass just so you could fucking manhandle me a-”  
> Miles let out a strangled cough. “ _Gwen_?”
> 
> Before Peter could process what he was doing, Miles ripped off his mask and was staring so wide Peter felt his eyes sting just looking at him. 
> 
> Gwen took a good few steps forward, an incredulous smile beginning to sprout. 
> 
> “Holy shit, _Miles_ ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so glad i finished this lol, idk if i should continue this series but im just so glad i finished this, I'm totally okay with leaving this series here but if you guys think I should keep it going i will, please let me know
> 
> But thank you so much for reading, 
> 
> Follow my insta! : _nothing.social.here_ 
> 
> Enjoy

Michelle bit hard into her eggroll, spilling the contents out on her plate.

She didn’t care about the occasional stares her mom shot her, after all, MJ wasn’t known to scarf down her food. Even when the stove lit on fire, Michelle was sitting on the counter, happily munching on the rice her sister had saved for herself. But right now, she didn’t have time to care about any of that, all she wanted to do was finish eating, scramble up to the roof and wait for Peter to bring back Miles. 

MJ let out a rude yawn, rubbing her eyes blearily, she could make out her mother’s annoyed expression melting into one of concern.

Her baby niece babbled nonsense and shot Michelle a toothless smile.

She could only weakly grin back.

The last few weeks have been taking their toll on her, nights were spent lying awake, her thoughts plaguing her sleep. Peter had done his best in trying to convince MJ to trust him and let him take Miles under his wing. To allow Miles to explore his abilities and his boundless potential, even for just a few hours every other day. 

All Michelle heard was Peter begging her to let him train Miles to be a mini spiderman. 

She told him that, to which Peter stammered out an argument, something about how containing ones powers would do more harm than good. Then he had to be a jerk and say some bullshit how _he_ had wished someone was there to mentor _him_ when he had barely got his powers, made her feel like a major bitch and only left her with the option of saying yes.

Miles jumped for joy when she accepted, it was easy to pretend she made the right choice with how wide he beamed at her. 

Her demands were that Miles have all his homework done (she would know if Peter did it for him), he be back by six, (his mom, while very busy would still notice if her son were absent for a long period of time). And that Peter would leave him out of any fights, away from crime, and danger. 

They were all followed for the most part (pictures of a mysterious figure traveling alongside spiderman had started to resurface the internet). But that didn’t stop Michelle from biting her nails until they were raw, staying up late reading how to treat open wounds or other ailments, and sticking close to Peter throughout the school days. 

She was getting tired of people asking if they were dating and glowering in their faces as Peter turned an amusing shade of pink. 

“You saw on the news ‘bout the new Spider person?” 

Michelle stiffened, her mom had clearly just been trying to make conversation, unaware of the way MJ’s heart sank to her stomach.

“W-what?” She sputtered, reaching out for her bottle of water and taking a large sip. “The kid?”

Her mom gave her a questioning look before slowly pointing to the tv screen, where a middle-aged woman with faint worry lines was talking, the distorted picture of a hooded figure next to her. 

“The _Girl_.” 

MJ barely had the time to notice that they were sitting on the living room couch, forgetting when they had even moved. Wait, _had_ they moved? Had the tv really always been on? 

Whatever

“ _Girl_?” She asked, voice trembling. “What girl? There’s a girl?” 

“You didn’t see?” Her mother’s small eyes softened, it wasn’t like Michelle to fall behind on the news. The girl was updated on everything, knew what was going on in any part of the world. “Some girl got powers and started running around, stopping bank robberies ” Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and her voice became gruff. “Se un día tenes esos poderes y vas a pelear vas a ver lo que te voy hacer cabrona.”

Michelle forced a snort, she knew her mom was playing (not really) but couldn’t muster up the energy to find it humorous. Her blood turned cold the longer she watched the screen, actually beginning to pay attention to what was being said instead of blocking it out as just white noise.

Two males had robbed a bank at gunpoint, and like two cartoon villains, had hotwired a taxi cab and driven away. The cops were on the chase, but the guys had been shooting from the car windows and threatened to shoot a pedestrian if the cops had gotten close. 

The camera crew for the news station had been persistent though, they had trailed in front of the actual criminals, it made Michelle sick. Sure, these two maniacs were threatening people but as long as they got a good story out of it, who cared? 

But that alone wasn’t making Michelle want to break down. 

It was Peter's turn to watch Miles, and the chase was making its way to his street. And it was _Peter_ , stupid selfless Peter who MJ knew wouldn’t hesitate in running after the criminal. And then there was Miles, who idolized Peter so much it was almost sickening, and who was right there next to him and would no doubt follow Peter. But the guy had a gun and Miles didn’t _have_ a suit and Peter said he would protect him but there was so much he couldn’t predict and what if-

Spiderman came into view, swinging down, he landed perfectly on the roof of the cab.

MJ had a sudden urge to throw up. 

She watched her mom sit up and carefully feed a spoonful of rice to her niece. 

Spiderman tilted his head to the side. “Hey! You guys don’t have a license, I’m gonna have to report you!” He quipped. 

Michelle wanted nothing more than to pull out her hair and scream, but to save herself the effort she just shoved more noodles into her mouth. 

The two gunmen noticed the superhero and immediately hit the brakes, the problem is that they had been speeding. And although the camera van had been a good safe distance away, the taxi was having trouble skidding to a complete stop, getting awfully close to the crew. Michelle swallowed thickly, she didn’t want to watch a cab ram into people, killing them instantly. 

But that didn’t happen. 

Another figure in a white hoodie and black sweatpants with green ballet shoes came into view. They stood in front of the speeding taxi, held out their hand, and watched as it crashed into them, their hand holding it back from making contact with the crew. Peter faltered for a second, his entire focus on the person in front of him.

Glass spewed everywhere and MJ heard the cameraman curse under his breath as he tried to get away. 

“That’s her!” Michelle heard her mother say. “Mira! ¿Cuántos años _tiene_? She’s Miles’ age!” She exclaimed. 

Michelle watched the figure (who was clearly a child) with wide eyes, a little upset that her mom would call them a girl, the person's’ gender couldn’t be told and also didn’t even matter. She didn’t know why it-

The figures hoodie blew out of their face, revealing short dyed blond hair and a pair of big eyes. Their mouth was covered by a scarf of sorts, but clearly, they had forgotten (or didn't care about) the most important part of having a secret identity. She didn’t seem to mind though, she dusted off her hands and crossed her arms. Staring at the mess in front of her, bored. 

Peter hopped off the roof of the car, Michelle saw him trying to process the girl in front of her, but shook his head and focused on getting the criminals out of the smashed car.

MJ wondered if they were even alive, for the sake of Peters and her psyche, she hoped they were. 

She couldn’t tell if they were, but she saw Peter delicately pull them out and check their pulse. His shoulders slumped and he placed a hand to his chest, he looked around and stepped forward to the young girl. Her face was hidden but she walked forward as well, seemingly eager.

One of the man got to his feet, pulled out a gun from his back pocket and rose to aim it. 

He was suddenly knocked down to the ground, the weapon skidded to Peters’ feet. He bent down and picked it up, his mask making his expression unreadable. Michelle glared at the man lying on the ground from the screen, he hasn’t slipped, it seemed as if someone actually knocked him down. 

The camera wobbled, went out of focus, but went back in. 

Before MJ could ask her mom if she saw that when another figure appeared right next to the man instantly. It looked like another spider man, except the exact opposite of him. Their suit was black, with red decorating all around it. 

It was highly impressive and clearly the work of a genius, or of a guy with too much money and time on their hands.

She knew that was Miles under the suit, she just knew.

Everyone gasped at the sudden appearance of the new Spiderman, Peter turned around and the eyes of the mask widened almost comically. Miles webbed the guys’ hands together and bowed sarcastically when people who began to cluster around the mess began to clap. 

The other guy, still clutching his broken leg aimed his gun at the girls’ head. Michelle didn’t have the chance to notice before the shot rang out.

But nothing happened. 

The girl had her fist closed, and when she opened it, the lone bullet fell with a disappointing _clink_. 

She rolled her eyes and readjusted her hoodie over her head. “ _Nice_ dude, you almost killed a kid,” She moved forward and pressed her foot on his broken leg. She frowned at his squeals of pain. “Now you can put that on your resume, almost shot a kid in cold blood.”

Peter could only stand there, his awkward self not knowing what to do, between Miles taking all the applause he could get (although people had stopped clapping as intently as before, a gun being shot could do that) to the angry girl stepping on a guy's already broken leg. MJ wanted to get mad at him for doing nothing, but honestly, it wasn’t as if she could have done any better. 

Something snapped in his mind though, because no later he pulled Miles close, webbed the two guy’s so they really were stuck to the ground. He grabbed the girls’ arm tight, shot a web and pulled himself up, carrying the girl away (she never stopped cursing), Miles the following suit not a minute later. 

The reporter came back in view, only now her once flowing hair was a mess and her mascara had smeared all over her eyes. She went back to talking but it was all muffled noise to Michelle’s ears. Police sirens and mono voices all blended into one, Michelle could feel the good in her stomach beginning to churn.

Anger and betrayal mixed into one.

Her mother placed a gentle hand on He shoulder “Michelle? You okay babe?” 

She carefully pushed past her mom, making a mad dash to the bathroom. Pushing open the door, she collapsed onto the floor, barely opened the toilet lid before feeling the Chinese takeout leave her throat. 

The perfect end to a shitty week. 

~.~  
“WHAT THE HELL? LET ME THE FUCK GO YOU FREAK! THIS IS KIDNAPING! I SWEAR TO GOD, LET ME GO OR I’LL-“

Peter pressed a finger to his lips, or where his lips would be had it not been for the mask.“Shh! Please be quiet! If the police find us we’ll be unmasked and brought in.” He urged. “I promise we can talk later, but I don’t want the police to find you and get you in trouble.”

The girls light blue eyes widened in panic for a brief moment before shutting tightly. Peter didn’t want to alarm her, but he really didn’t want any of them to get caught, and for Miles and her to get punished.

Speaking of, where was he?

Peter and the girl were sitting on top of one of the apartment complex near Peter’s own building, it was one of his and Miles’ fail-safes. Although ‘fail-safe’ was being a little too generous, it was just one of the many buildings they hid a basket full of snacks, water, and blankets in. 

Miles whirled around not a second later, blanket in hand, clearly distressed.

“Hide! They’re sending helicopters this way.” 

With that, he threw the black blanket over the two of them, turned himself invisible and squatted down. Staring up at the night sky, Miles pressed himself close to Peter’s side, his heart pounding loud in his ears. 

Peter, still from inside the blanket, wrapped a reassuring arm around the kid. 

The girl tensed up and enveloped her arms around her shoulders, pushed her knees to her chest and dug her head in her mess of arms and knees. Miles sank further into Peter, his heart rate was getting out of control and was making him antsy. Peter breathed in deep and tugged on Miles, letting him know he was there and going to be okay. 

Maybe. 

Sirens rang from below, multiple cries of people caused the girl to tremble for a second before settling. The sounds of a helicopter flying above startled all three of them as it passed by. It moved along with the police cars, they waited a good three minutes before Miles turned visible and the two emerged from under the blanket. 

The girl didn’t hesitate in standing up and putting a good amount of distance from the guys, she let her hood fall, allowing the thin scarf to be her only separation from her face. She started twitching and abruptly pulled the mask from her face, her bright eyes contorted in fury directed at Peter, her lips forming into a scowl. 

“Listen _Spiderman_ , I didn’t save your ass just so you could fucking manhandle me a-”

Miles let out a strangled cough. “ _Gwen_?”

Before Peter could process what he was doing, Miles ripped off his mask and was staring so wide Peter felt his eyes sting just looking at him. 

Gwen took a good few steps forward, an incredulous smile beginning to sprout. “Holy shit, _Miles_ ?”

Miles didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he let them hang limply at his sides as he beamed up at Gwen, fidgeting from foot to foot. 

She stood up on her tiptoes, a nervous tick she obtained after taking ballet.

Peter didn’t know what else to do, but he felt stupid being the only one in a mask, so he took it off as well. “Wait, you guys know each other?” He asked 

Gwen eyed him for a while (it was weird seeing the famous Spiderman without his mask, even weirder knowing he was just some seventeen-year-old punk kid) letting Miles excitedly answer. 

“Yeah! We go to the same school, she lives in the building right next to us,” He turned and grinned at her, Peter watched as Gwen stifled her smile from view. “She has a band, and MJ takes me to see them play sometimes!” Miles exclaimed.

For the umpteenth time in his life, Peter felt unbelievably lame. It struck him how so much cooler these two kids were than him. 

Not wanting to lose face, Peter held out his hand in greeting, feeling much more at ease now that he knew her name. “Nice to meet you then Gwen! I’m Peter Parker, I’m Miles’ friend, and Spiderman, obviously,” Peter turned pink, he sounded like such an ass. “You uh, don’t have to call me spiderman! I’m..uh, Peter.” He faltered when she still didn't take his hand.

Gwen seemed to be dissecting him, big blue eyes scrutinizing every detail about his face, especially his eyes. Miles nudged her shoulder a bit, she tossed him a glare and gruffly shoved her hand into Peters. Squeezing it so hard he actually felt it cry out in pain. 

“Yeah, _hi_ ,” She spat out, snatching her hand back. “So what now? Do I have to sign something? Join your club or whatever?” 

Gwen had moved forward with each word, until she was face to face with Peter, her on her toes to meet his eye. She blew the stay pieces of blonde locks out of her hair, cursing herself for not getting it cut. 

Peter didn’t know why, but he cowered slightly under the preteens’ gaze. “Uh, well, no-um there’s not a spider people club or anything,” He sputtered, stepping back so he was next to Miles again. “I didn’t even know there were other people who got bit beside me and Miles.”

Miles nodded, coming between the two. “Yeah, Peter’s so cool, he let me have one of his web blasters. You should come and train with us! We do it after school and on Sunday’s,” He exclaimed, gently clutching onto her shoulders, eyes growing wide. “Yeah! It’d be so cool! Gwen come on! It’s so fun!”

Gwen stared back at him dumbly for a few seconds and clicked her tongue. “Yeah, uh, _no_.” She laughed and threw her head back, her short choppy hair following the movement. “Holy shit, imagine if I did!”

Peter kicked the ground beneath his feet, a light sweat pouring down his face. “Would, uh, would that be bad?”

She stopped, still chuckling. “Yeah? My mom’s the chief of police.”

Miles nodded as Peter paled. 

“Yeah! I met her, she’s really cool.” He said.

Miles recalled a towering intimidating woman with dyed blonde hair and hazel eyes picking up Gwen after school in a police car. Everyone oohed and awed at the car, especially when Gwen got inside with a frustrated huff. The woman offered Miles a ride as well, her tired smile reminded him of his own mother. He got in happily (Gwen mentally crushed her mom as she hid her face in her knees), thanking the woman when she dropped him off. 

Even though he could have swung home in less time. 

Peter moved closer to Gwen, his hands becoming clammy even under the suit. It was all starting to occur to him just how mental this whole thing was, regret after regret piling into his chest. He should have never given Miles the audit. Should have never blindly taken him under his wing, shouldn’t have jumped off the roof to stop the heist that the police could have easily stopped, should have never taken off his mask in front of the daughter of the chief of police. 

Shouldn’t have asked Michelle if she was okay, and what he could do to help.

“G-Gwen?” Peter wavered, no longer attempting to mask his apprehension. “Look, I-we would really like it if you uh, joined-but if you don’t that’s fine!” Peter pushed his hair out of his face, Miles bit the inside of his cheek. “Just...can you please, um, not tell your mom about me and Miles Please?” 

Gwen’s eyes softened for a brief moment. 

And for a second she didn’t see _The Amazing Spider-Man,_ but a seventeen-year-old kid who honestly just wanted the best for everyone. Gwen looked at Peter and could only feel sympathy for him, he was just a stupid brat who bit off more than he could chew and now had no idea what to do with himself. 

She felt for him, truly she did. 

Which is why she rolled her eyes and adjusted her hoodie over her head, and secured her mask back in place. “Relax, you guys are safe,” She then pointed a menacing finger at Miles. “Just don’t rat me out either jerk.”

He snorted in response. 

Gwen turned pink and smiled back, she fixed the straps of her shoes and perched herself up on the edge of the room. She inhaled deeply and was about to let herself fall before Peter tapped lightly on her shoulder. 

“Gwen?”

She faltered for a minute, turned and glowered up at him. “What?”

Peter didn’t seem fazed, rather, he grinned softly and rocked on his heels. “Why do you want to fight crime?” At her silence Peter elaborated, fiddling and cracking his fingers. “I mean, I remember being thirteen, and I was scared of everything. I don’t think I would've fought crime or face criminals.”

Gwen blinked for a minute, she moved so that she was sitting on the edge of the building, her feet dangling limply. Glad he hadn’t asked how she had obtained her powers in the first place

Truthfully, she wondered that herself sometimes, when she was recovering from the sore ribs and black eyes she wondered why the hell was she putting herself through all this?

But then she would get up and saw some asshole beating up a poor kid on the street, her gut clenched, and then she knew she had to do this. 

“I wanted to do something good,” Gwen admitted, sparing a glance back at Miles who joined her on the ledge. “That’s it. I tried to make money off it by wrestling, and I did! But only like, a hundred bucks or something,” Gwen shrugged, turning to glare at Peter. “But I felt like horse shit after so I stopped and just, I dunno, I really wanted to help this girl get home safe. Then I started doing it more and people started noticing but that’s not my fault.” She defended.

Peter wanted to say something, how he didn’t care if she got attention and he wasn’t doing this for fame either. And that he only wanted her to be safe and know that it’s not all fun and games and maybe convince her to stop? Or at least join his and Miles’ club (or whatever, the name didn’t matter) and know she wasn’t alone.

He didn’t get to as she whirled around and furrowed her eyebrows. “Just keep Tony Stark out of this,” She demanded. “I know he’s like your dad or whatever, but he’s an ass and I’m not joining his kid's club.”

Peter forced out an awkward chuckle. 

She didn’t find it funny.

Peter moves forward and stiffly patter her shoulder. “Just stay safe Gwen,” He motioned behind him. “If you ever need help, Miles can give you my number if you want it.”

Mikes got out his phone (from where Peter didn’t know) texted something and turned it off with a satisfied nod. “Sent it to you, but you should come over for training. It’s so cool.”

Gwen hunched up and shrugged. “Maybe, look, I gotta go. My mom gets mad when I’m out too late.”

She stood up and stuffed her hands in her pockets, turned to speak but nothing came out. It was too hard to say goodbye she thought, which was stupid because she hardly knew Peter and she would be seeing Miles on Monday. It felt as if someone has stuffed cotton down her throat and was forcing her to speak.

She didn’t _want_ to leave, not at all.

Something in the back of her neck had been tingling ever since she got her powers, it followed her everywhere even in sleep.

But not anymore, not while she was pressed against the bricks and lying still under a blanket. Not while Miles held her shoulders gently and beamed down at her, and Peter offered her a warm smile and a large hand in welcome. 

But her mom was waiting, and it was getting cold. 

And-

Gwen let herself fall.

As she fell, she pushed herself away from the building, throwing herself at the nearby lamppost. She caught herself and twirled off, landing on a window sill of a building flawlessly. Gwen flipped off of it and jumped higher, smirking to herself as she felt the wind slap her face.

Peter watched in awe, Miles shook his head and smiled, knowing she was purposely showing off. 

Gwen whooped as she fell on the roof of an apartment, running like mad and grinning like an idiot. Once she got to her apartment, she stopped smiling, nearly tripping on her feet before she caught herself. 

The tingling on her neck started up again. 

And it hurt 

~.~

After the two boys watched Gwen fade into nothing, Peter turned to Miles and (tried to) glare crossly at the boy.

Miles, who had been subject to a furious MJ wasn’t fazed in the slightest. “Hi?”

Peter gave up trying to look menacing and settled for frustrated, and worried.

“I told you to stay on the roof,” Mikes shrunk a bit. “Remember? We saw the guys coming down the street and I said ‘Miles, stay here, I don’t want you to get hurt, I’ll be back really quick’.” He said. 

“I know,” Miles' eyes shone brightly, he quickly wiped them. “But you were looking at Gwen and the guy was gonna shoot you!”

“That’s why I have the suit!”

Miles opened his mouth, then shut it close quickly. “I forgot,” He mumbled, clearly embarrassed. “I freaked out! I swear, I thought he was gonna kill you, Pete.”

Miles twisted his suit in his hands. His heart stopped completely once he saw the gunman begin to lift his weapon, aiming it at Peter. It was instinct to turn invisible and swing down, knocking the man down to the ground. He wanted to do more, but Peter had only taught him defense moves, saying he was too young to learn how to attack to hurt. 

Which was fine, he just wanted Peter safe.

Peter couldn’t get another word out as his phones ringing interrupted them from inside the basket. He dug it out, and almost blanched at the screen name. 

“Oh come _on_ .” He mumbled, feeling as if he would faint any minute.

This was so unfair, the timing couldn’t be any worse and fuck he should’ve been more careful. Why didn’t he just stay out on the roof? The police would have handled it fine and Gwen showed up perfectly and- 

Miles looked over Peters' arm, his eyes bulging as well. “Holy _shit_!” He squealed, shaking Peter by the shoulders. “Is that Tony Stark? Fucking Iron Man? Can I talk to him?” 

Peter shrugged the young boy off and winced, he needed to answer. Prolonging the inevitable would only enrage Mr. Stark more, and Peter really didn’t want Ironman tracking him down and giving him a full-on lecture on the roof of an apartment. 

He walked a good few feet away from Miles, who still seemed enchanted at the thought of Tony Stark calling. Peter inhaled deeply and tried to control his heart rate. 

“H-hello?” He answered, his voice off pitched, he coughed in embarrassment. 

“Heya Pete,” Tony’s nonchalant drawl only put Peter more on edge. “Say, I was just flipping channels, and I just so happened to uh, catch you and your little friends.”

“We-”

Tony didn’t let him finish. “And I don’t know if it’s me getting old, but I _swear_ that suit one of your pals had on was the one I sent you a couple of weeks,” Peter heard the sound of ice rolling around a glass from the other end. “Or is that just me getting on in years?” 

Peter sputtered incoherently into his phone, his mind going completely blank as he struggled to form a complete sentence. 

Miles took the chance to nudge Peters arm, causing him to lower the phone slightly. 

“Can I talk to him now?” Miles begged.

Tony rose from his chair, splaying his scotch on the floor.

Pepper would kill him later, but right now he didn’t care.

“Who was that?”

Peter turned and glared at Miles, who was now jumping widely, trying to snatch the phone out of his hand. He got close but Peter was faster and leaped out of reach, slightly impressed with himself, he quickly answered. 

“No one!” 

“ _Peter_.”

Peter webbed Miles’ feet to the floor, the boy groaned in frustration and Peter smirked. “Sorry Mr. Stark, I really gotta go, I’ll call you tomorrow!” A best passed, Tony took a sip of his drink. “Promise, I'll tell you everything.” 

Tony massaged his temples slowly, Peter bit his lip at the usually loud man's’ silence.

He looked at Miles, who was tugging at his feet, tongue sticking out in concentration. And couldn’t, for the life of him feel guilty for giving him the suit, even if he probably should have. 

“I’m really sorry, but Miles is a really great kid, I just wanted him safe,” Peter mumbled into the phone, he glanced at the blanket strewn across the floor. “And the girls’ name is Gwen by the way, I didn’t know her before, she’s really cool. She reminds of the MJ, that girl I was telling you about that goes to my school.”

Tony rubbed a hand across his face, trying to rid the smile from his face. 

“ _Pete_!” Miles called out, his voice edging on whining. “C'mon man, I’m sorry, lemme go.”

Peter rolled his eyes and raised his phone back to answer, before realizing Tony had hung up already. It left a bitter taste in his mouth but there was nothing else he could do but wait, for what he didn’t know.

But that was all he could do. 

He snapped a picture of Miles stuck in his webs for himself and slipped his mask back on. 

“Actually, that’s a great time out,” Peter snickered when Miles gaped at him, struggling harder. “Next time, think Miles. I know you were worried about me, and I appreciate that so much man.”

Peter titles his head and gave Miles a light pay on the back. (He would have liked to give the kid a hug, but he was a bit busy) 

“But you need to think before doing anything, I learned that the hard way. But I don’t want you to be under a hanger to learn.” He said, not sure Miles was even listening. 

“Dude, are you serious?” Miles deadpanned, finding it hard not to smile at the ridiculous situation he was in. “You're gonna leave me here?”

Peter laughed into the air and jumped off the building, casting a web and singing onto a windowsill and laughing into his hands. The webs would dissolve in only five minutes, he was just waiting for Miles to catch up now. 

He had to take him back to his apartment in an hour, or sooner, and if MJ had watched the news, (Peter already knew she did, god, he didn’t even want to _think_ what was going to happen now that she knew) she would probably want him to be back early.

That was fine, but that was all later. 

Later when Peter would drop off Miles he would get dragged in Michelle's room by the collar of his suit. He would slip and fall on the floor and have to stare up at MJ as she cried, big crocodile tears dripped down her face as she yelled at him. How could you do this? What the hell were you _thinking_ Peter?

I asked you to look after him and you almost get him shot. 

They would spend the rest of the talking, Peter answering all her questions and Michelle taking more Asprin than recommended. He would tell her about Gwen and how they were now all involved. Peter would apologize profusely but tell her that he didn’t regret his actions one bit, she begrudgingly agreed, but still couldn’t stop her tears from falling.

It was unnerving to watch Michelle, powerful Michelle Jones cry. Peter didn’t judge though, everyone needed a break, and hers was a long time coming. 

He left at around one in the morning, MJ said he could spend the night on his couch (her mom was out) but he really needed to get back home. May was probably waiting up for him, and he hated letting his aunt down. 

Peter would walk out the door if only to catch a glimpse of Miles passed out on MJ’s couch, wearing a blearily sleeping smile. 

It was worth it, he would tell himself, everything was worth it so long as Miles got home safe. 

Later Tony Stark would show up in his bedroom, dressed to the nines in a suit worth more than anything in Peters room (the spider suit didn’t count). The dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than ever, he was toying with a stress ball. 

He would have to sit down and explain everything, all over again. 

But that was then, and now Peter was watching as Miles swung by, cursing and laughing at Peter.

Peter grinned as the tingling on the back of his neck started up again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
>  _“Se un día tenes esos poderes y vas a pelear vas a ver lo que te voy hacer cabrona.”_ -"If one day you have those powers and you go to fight, you will see what I'll do to you."
> 
>  _"Mira! ¿Cuántos años tiene?"_ \- "Look! How old is she?
> 
> Finals are going to kick my whole ass so this is the last thing I'll be posting for a while, i really hope you guys enjoyed 
> 
> Goodnight 
> 
> Follow my insta! : _nothing.social.here_

**Author's Note:**

> I should really be preparing for school but instead I'm doing this, noice
> 
> Next chapters gonna be up really soon, not that anyone cares but I'm proud of that. This is gonna be one of the last stories I upload for a while, school's going to pretty much take over my life again so this is my little send off peice. Hope you guys like it :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and Goodnight


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